Barrel Char?

I bought all (literally) of the Buffalo Trace food stuffs

Mark, did you also buy a bag of their barrel char? It is the cheapes thing in their gift shop ($2 or thereabouts for a 1lb bag). It's supposed to be good on the BBQ for smoking, but I just open the bag up once in awhile for a great big sniff!

Re: Barrel Char?

Dave, I had a nice stash of barrel char( How did I get That?) It is great but I always thought of it afterwards , Kept forgetting to bring it out. When CL was here earlier this summer I let him have it. Barton is selling whole used barrels for 5 bucks each. I may get a few and chop them up.

Re: Barrel Char?

To all,
I've used the barrel char a few times and it needs supplementation with some wood chips to get the smoke going. An interesting note. Shuckman's Smoked Fish in Louisville now smokes fish marinated in Woodford Reserve and smoked with chipped bourbon barrel wood.
Awesomee

Re: Barrel Char?

Yeah they even put a new bung in them after they are dumped. You have to get to the distillery before 2 or 3 M-F . They sell halves for 3 each. During the Bourbon Festival I saw some folks coming out of Clermont with out of state tags and a whole pickup truck full of whole barrels. About 45 each at Beam's. In all fairness the barrels at Barton's have been used for bourbon and once more for Brandy, Rum or the like and they have no further use , hence the good price.

Earlier this year I saw some at Wal Mart garden shop for about 35. Unless you had another reason to be in Btown, you aren't going to save much. I guess if you buy 5 or6 you could come out on top.

Re: Barrel Char?

Re: Barrel Char?

I used Bobby's char (thanks, Bobby!) on grilled, bone-in, chicken breasts, legs, and thighs. The char was small chips so I only soaked them in water for a couple minutes.

I had the fire set relatively low for a grill (250 - 300 F) and let the chicken take nearly an hour to cook. Alot of char remained. I expected them to burn up completely, but they didn't. BTW, I use a Weber charcoal kettle.

The chicken had a sweet, smoky taste from the Kingsford charcoal, as it does when I cook it that slow. I didn't detect but a subtle flavoring from the bourbon char. I am wondering if the char didn't smoke enough. (I was too busy playing horseshoes to watch it closely.) If the char had burned completely through, I might have had more smoke and more flavor.

I want to try the char in my smoker, but I am so damn busy nowadays, that I don't have time to tend to a smoker. The fish idea that pepcycle mentioned sounds good. That shouldn't take too long. BTW, I have a bullet smoker that is fired by gas (SO MUCH EASIER to maintain an even temp). I have a cast iron chip holder nestled among the lava rocks. I put the wet wood chips in the holder. I am not a Q expert, but I am hard pressed to tell the difference between my Q and that of the Q restaurants around here that use real wood.

I normally smoke pork shoulder over hickory (and that is an all day job). I am not sure whether adding bourbon char to the hickory would be noticeable. Based on my chicken experience, I think fish is the next thing I will try.

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I just checked my smoking recipe book for bourbon recipes. I have the original edition; the revised edition is here.

It has a couple bourbon-related desserts, Booker's Bourbon Mint Ice Cream (which is named after Booker Noe and doesn't specify the bourbon) and Bourbon Peaches.

But, it does have a Bourbon-Glazed Ribs recipe consisting of a rub, a mop, and a sauce. Only the mop has bourbon in it and it looks like a dandy, primarily for its high bourbon content.

3/4 cup bourbon
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup water

For you smoker wannabees, a mop is a liquid you apply to the meat while it is cooking to keep the meat moist.

I just might modify my next pork smoking. I use a bullet smoker with a pan of water above the coals. The water evaporates and moistens the meat, so I don't have to mop. I wonder if I can just use the mop above instead of water or just add bourbon to my water. Any of you hard core smokers have any advice about this?

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What does the barrel char look like? I mentioned this in one of the Thursday chats--at Old Dominion Brewery in Ashburn, VA they age an Oak Barrel Stout with used bourbon barrels. They invited everybody on the tour to pick off the clear-brown caramelized goodies from the barrel and taste. (Evidently the pressure from the beer forces more of it to the surface). Does your barrel char look like dried maple-syrup?